1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to shoe brushes and more particularly to such a brush which is mounted on a vehicle and is movable between a retracted position within a housing and an extended position outside of such housing for utilization.
2. Description of the Related Art
Golf shoe brushes are generally used by golfers for removing earth and grass from golf cleats both while playing to assure a firm foothold on the ground and to avoid soiling the greens, and after playing to avoid soiling the floor of a golf cart. Hand brushes are generally used for this purpose, such brushes after being installed in a golf bag. Such golf bag attached brushes are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,230,117 issued Jul. 27, 1993 to Johnson, et al; U.S. Pat. No. 5,815,873 issued Oct. 6, 1998 to Jones; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,1479,674 issued Jan. 2, 1996 to Gilcrest.
The Jones and Johnson patents describe golf shoe brushes which are suspended from a golf bag and which have extension cables that are spring urged into the bag, with such lines being withdrawn by the user when the brushes are manually utilized to brush the user""s shoes. Gilcrest describes a shoe brush which is mounted in a retainer pivotally supported on the base of a golf bag. The brush is slidably mounted in the retainer and the retainer moved between an upright position for stowing the brush and a horizontal position where the brush can be utilized by the user by scraping his shoes against the brush. Jones and Johnson have the disadvantage of requiring that the user manually use the brush to scrape his or her shoes. Gilcrest while it provides for brushing one""s shoes while standing up is not adapted for mounting on a vehicle. Further, in Gilcrest the brush must be manually moved between the stowed and extended positions and further is not stowed in a retracted fashion beneath the support on which it is mounted.
The brush device of the present invention is an improvement over the prior art in that it can be mounted on a vehicle positioned underneath the vehicle where it is stowed. Further in the device of present invention, the brush is moved between a retracted stowed position and an extended position manually with return to the retracted position being achieved by spring action.
The device of the invention has a pair of longitudinally extending spaced apart members which may be in the form of arms, bars, rods, or a plate to which the brush is attached at one of its ends. Channel members which may be in the form of slotted portions into which the runner members are fitted are attached to the underside of a vehicle such as a golf cart preferably in a manner so that they do not protrude out from the frame of the vehicle. The brush and runner members are driven to a retracted position under the vehicle by one or more springs which are attached at one end to the runner members and the other end to a mount attached to the vehicle. In one embodiment, a housing is provided in which the retracted brush is retained. The support members and the brush are manually drawn outwardly to the extended position to enable utilization of the brush. A latch member retains the brush in the extended position against the spring tension. This latch may be released either manually or by foot action to permit the spring to drive the brush back to the retracted position.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a golf shoe brush which can more easily and rapidly be utilized and stowed when not in use.
Other objects of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds in connection with the accompanying drawings.